Whispers
by ThyNameNotSpoken
Summary: The smaller of the two women looked into the ally and met his eyes causing the red banded turtle to stiffen even though he knew he was well hidden in the darkness. The woman smiled at him with love and warmth leaving Raphael utterly confused. "Don't worry Tyler, it's ok. You don't have to hide," she said. One fateful night. One eventful future.
1. Chapter 1

**Howdy, thank's for checking out my story. Hope you like!**

 **Raph** crouched in the shadows that warped the grand city of New York. He watched the neon lights twinkled and dance growing brighter by the minute as the last of the waning streams of light faded completely. A small smile graced his face at the sight, one that he loved. Despite the hard times he and his brothers had face the city still held a warm spot in his heart.

Breathing in the smog and the smell of fall he sighed becoming completely relaxed but not off guard.

Laughter caught his attention and he glanced down at the source: two women and two kids eating ice cream. Simply out of curiosity he followed them keeping to the shadows a he did. One of the women had striking, curly blue hair and dark mahogany skin and the other, from what he could tell, looked plain in comparison, yet oddly familiar. As for the kids, he couldn't see a thing since they were bundled up completely despite it just being a little chilly.

Raphael grumbled at the sight of a couple or men walking towards their little group and pulled out his sia's preparing for a quick fight. The women and their kids stopped at the sight of the two bulky men fast approaching. He watched the two mothers step in front of their kids protectively, but was surprised to see them both fall into a fighting stance.

He hopped to the ally below, now only feet away if he needed to jump in. The clouds moved revealing the moon and forcing him to step further into the shadows. Oddly, the women looked unbothered by the men almost as if they were slipping into an old rhythm.

His grip on his weapons tightened as one of the men made an advance to the blue haired woman, but his actions weren't needed as the other mother knocked the guy flat on his back with a punch that even made him wince and by the blood oozing from the mans nose it was obviously broken. Both children seemed frightened by what was happening.

Relaxing, he sheath his sia's and leaned against the wall. The plainer of the two women was also shorter and smaller and in no way could have landed a punch like that with so much force and not show any sign of pain. The same girl didn't even wait for the other man to advance, instead she kicked him in the jaw with a roundhouse that jarred Raph from his relaxed posture. Raphael came to the conclusion that she must've been trained in martial arts, even if it didn't explain the strength behind her attacks.

The two women relaxed with their threat gone. The smaller of the two looked into the ally and met his eyes causing the red banded turtle to stiffen even though he knew he was well hidden in the darkness. The woman smiled at him with love and warmth leaving him utterly confused.

"Don't worry Tyler, it's ok. You don't have to hide," she said.

Raph relaxed but was still confused as to why the woman thought he was Tyler.

"Mom, I'm right here," one of the children pipped up.

The woman looked over to her son shock and confusion evident on her features and that's when Raph decided to make his leave. Crouching back on the rooftop, he watched the women converse though their words were out of hearing range. Raphael followed them back to where they lived surprised to find that they lived next to April and Casey.

He then realized why they looked so familiar. The two women had been in the shop before talking with April and Casey on occasion and they also owned the sandwich shop next door that they often ordered from. But Raphael had no idea either woman had children.

He went back to the Lair content with New York's safety for the night, but the two women still plagued his mind. He knew how much force it took to knock a full-grown man off his feet like that, break his nose, and leave him unconscious. Even he had trouble landing blows like that, but that small woman had done it effortlessly. Even if she was trained in martial arts, a solely offensive attack with that amount of damage should have been impossible, and yet she'd done it.

Usually, he would have let the thought go, but since they lived next to April it only made rise to more questions. Hell, he'd seen them before, heard April have conversations with the women, had even gone into their little shop when they weren't very busy after a run to get something to eat. But never once did he see two kids. He guessed they could have just been up in the apartment, but April and Casey had a couple kids near their age and they were good friends with the two women, but he'd never heard of the kids coming over to play.

As he reached the Lair entrance, Raph couldn't help but wonder if April knew. Donnie was the one who was good at solving problems and investigating, he wasn't. It just wasn't his thing. Raph preferred a more straight forward approach and anything that left him confused or stuck he'd leave behind causing him to run head on into battle and problems, but it was just the way he was.

So, he wondered why he couldn't let this go and forget about it, as he opened the entrance and walked into his strangely quiet home. The way the woman had looked him in the eyes with motherly affection and called the name of her child had left him more confused than anything and how surprised she'd looked to find her son right behind her. None of it making any sense was starting to give Raph a headache.

* * *

 **Jess** shed the winter coat she was wearing and hung it on the closet by the door and went to help her son out of his layers, unable to stop the memories from earlier to come flooding back again. She'd been positive that Tyler was hiding in the alley even though she'd never seen him go by her, the eyes she saw were the same as her sons; a golden amber like she'd never seen before. That is until tonight. It would explain why the eyes in the ally had looked so confused when she'd called out to them.

It was just a fluke. Someone curious about what was happening. Maybe they had come to help, but when they saw that she had it covered, decided to just watch never meaning to catch attention.

She smiled at Tyler and he grinned back seemingly having forgotten about the events from earlier. "Honey," she started carefully gaining his attention. "It's ok to be scared," her serious tone caused his playful smile to fall.

"I know mom, but you can handle anything." Giving his mother a hug the young boy went off to play with his sister.

Lila laid a hand on Jess's shoulder giving it a small squeeze, "It's been ten years. You should relax." Lila's voice held the inkling of an accent, but her native language long ago lost to her along with nearly everything else about their former lives.

"I hate to keep them cooped up so much, but. . .I can't bare the thought of those people getting their hands on them. I—"

"I know," Lila cut her off smoothly. "I know, but surely you can see that they are happy with what they have. They desire nothing more." Lila knew that Jess fretted about the lives of their children. Still so many questions left unanswered—and would probably stay unanswered—along with any new ones.

Jess huffed, throwing herself into the worn leather sofa that mismatched the ancient floral print of the love seat next to it. "You think we'll ever be able to save up enough to move to the country?" she screwed her eyes shut desperately trying to remember the open pastures and rolling hill and endless forests that she and Lila traveled through on their way to New York.

There the children could be outside anytime they wanted and wouldn't have to hide. Why did they have to hide anyway, Jess wondered. Sure, they had never seen anyone who looked like Tyler or Chloe but that didn't necessarily mean they didn't exist. Knowing it was foolish to hope for such a thing she brushed the thought from her mind.

Jess opened her eyes after a moment, deep in thought. "Those eyes were just like Tyler's," she smiled wondering if it had been a trick of her mind.

"I did feel like someone was watching us the whole time. Not just during the fight, but before and after." Lila tapped her chin in thought not sure what to make of the situation, but also knowing there wasn't much they could do about it. The stranger was long gone now and would probably never return and if they did. . . Well, Lila didn't want to think about that. It had been ten years since they escaped and the thought of being found again sent a chill down her spine.

Worrying about it, though, would only cause Jess to fret more and that was something she didn't want.

"How about a movie?" she offered, trying to get her sister's mind off the topic.

Jess smiled and nodded glad for the change.

* * *

 **April** stood outside her shop signing off on a new artifact that had just been delivered for a client. As the delivery men drove off, April kicked the dolly back slowly, knowing the artifact was both heavy and fragile. Heavy meaning it weight several hundred pounds and really she should have had some help moving it into the shop, but Casey was at work and it wasn't like the boys could just come out and help her.

Which meant April was left to do the job herself and it was going fine till she went to go over the ledge caused by the door frame where the box began to fall forward. She knew it would hit the ground and break the fragile artifact inside it completely destroying it.

But it never hit the ground. For a moment, it leaned precariously before it was pushed back gently and without much effort.

April stood there shocked wondering what magnificent force had saved her artifact from certain doom.

From behind the box a familiar head peaked around and smiled, "Hey April, where's Casey when you need him?"

April's face fell into shock at seeing the young woman behind the heavy box. She knew Jess and Lila and had never suspected anything of them, but after her conversation with Raphael and now with Jess catching the box that most certainly should've crushed her, she couldn't help but wonder if the kind, smiling woman was hiding something.

Realizing she had been quiet far too long April answered, "Casey's at work so I'm by myself." She spoke just a little louder than really necessary so that the boy's upstairs would hear her.

Together the two women easily moved the large packaged into the shop where April could unload it and contact the client.

"Thank you, Jess. You really saved me back there."

"Oh, no problem. Always happy to help," the younger woman grinned before leaving.

April watched the young woman disappear into her shop next door wondering what it was the woman was hiding. April thought for a moment knowing the seemingly normal women were hiding the fact they had two children, for whatever reason, but that was the only thing she knew for certain.

"See what I mean?" Raphael asked as he stepped out of the dark shadows of several boxes in the corner.

April jumped slightly not realizing he was there, but nodded all the same. "I was having a heck of a time with that box and she just. . .caught it! Like it was nothing," April huff, more that a little miffed by the woman. Then she realized the youngest of the four was missing. Leo and Donnie weren't around at the moment having 'things to do first' but Raph and Mickey had come by to help her move some of her things around. "Where's Mickey?"

"On the roof. Said he wanted some fresh air," he waved his three-fingered hand not really caring what his brother did till he came barreling down the stairs, phone extended in his right hand.

April stepped defensively in front of the artifact as Mickey came running at them, not wanting to test fate for a second time today. The orange banded turtle skidding to a stop in front of his brother and their best friend shoving the photo on his phone into their faced.

Raph was about to smack his brother's hand away then he saw the picture and instead snatched the phone for himself. "No fucking way," he breathed in disbelief. He assumed these were the kids he's saw yesterday, well not that he had really seen them since they were bundled to the t, but now he understood why.

"Oh my God," April stammered as she looked at the photo of the two children playing on the rooftop of their home. "I can't believe this." The older woman rested against the shop counter and tried to wrap her head around what she'd just seen.

"What should we do?" Mikey asked, gently taking his phone from his older brother. Seeing his brother frown he elaborated, "We can't just leave it. They're mutant's too."

Raph supposed Mikey was right for once. This wasn't something they could let go easily.

"Maybe we should talk to Leo first," April offered, not wanting the brothers to run into this delicate situation.

"Good idea April, he should be here soon actually."

"Who will be here soon, Mikey?"

"Leo!" Mikey jumped and sent a glance to Raph before talking. "Look at this," Mikey said before tossing the phone to his older brother watching his expression carefully. It was just what he expected: utter shock. Which led him to retell his story about seeing the two children and for Raph to tell his encounter with the two women.

With all the evidence laid out on the table and Donnie arriving and being filled in they waited on Leonardo to make a decision.

Leonardo thought long and hard unable to pull his eyes for the picture of the two children chasing each other on the roof next door.

"For now," he started carefully, making eye contact with each of his brothers, "we do nothing. Not till we know more." He was surprised to find that none of his brothers opposed.

The girl in the photo with bright blond hair and a cheerful smile caught his eye and he couldn't help but wonder how it was possible.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Hello all! I want to thank Mysteriousreader for pointing out some problems in the last chapter than I've gone back and fixed. When I uploaded the file onto her the line brakes disappeared, but I've gone back an added them and made sure this chapters has them. I apologize for any confusion so thanks again!**

 **Please enjoy!**

* * *

 **Raphael** landed silently in the alley behind April's home and the two women captivating his family lately. Though April had tried to wiggle information out of the two women they had both deflected and lied smoothly like it was second nature. It probably was.

Rain ran rampant down his emerald features, occasionally illuminated by flashes of lightning.

The back door to the sandwich shop flew open having been caught by the wind. Raph watched from the shadows as the small woman shielded her eyes from rampant rain before slumping her shoulders preparing to brave the weather. Raphael stood less than five feet away from Jess as she took the garbage to the dumpster getting soaked along the way, but the darkness hid him seamlessly.

If the lightning flashed when she turned around she'd see Raph standing there though, but if it didn't she'd go inside never knowing he was right behind her. Raph remained still, unable to move his feet to a safer position even as he began to shiver in the cold. He knew he shouldn't let the woman see him or test fate, but he couldn't help it.

There was a split second were lightning fanned across the sky, illuminating purple, angry clouds and sheet of rain, before Jess's eyes found him and they sunk back into darkness.

The lightning continued to flash erratically and every time it did his stomach twisted, expecting her to scream and run, but she never moved. Her face a mix of too many emotions for him to pick out, her brown hair plastered to her head, water streaming down her skin. And soaking her clothes.

Jess slowly approached Raphael heart hammering in her chest as she did unable to believe what she was seeing.

Raphael forced himself not to move as the young women came slowly closer, hands held out in front of her like she was approaching a dangerous animal. Tenderly, she placed her hand on his check and her face softened exponentially.

"You're real," she breathed, just barely audible under the rolls of thunder.

Raph reached up and gently pulled her hand away but found he had a hard time letting it go. The way she was looking at him made his chest tighten. She wasn't scared, he realized, but happy, and he didn't know how to handle that sort of reaction.

Screams? Sure. Running away? Definitely. Relief and joy? Never.

Jess's hazel eyes looked at her small hand grasped in Raph's larger one wondering if this was all just a dream and she prayed it wasn't. Her heart sank at the thought of waking up in bed, nothing different.

Raph stood completely still afraid that if he'd move their little bubble would shatter.

"Can you talk?"

He realized he hadn't said anything and cleared his, "Yes." Lightning flashed again causing him to shiver against the cold.

"Oh, your cold! Come inside," her small hand shifted to grip his and started pulling him behind her. At first, he'd tried to resist, but the small woman had easily pulled his bulky form along as if he was a mere child. He frowned, completely on edge as he entered the woman's warm home safely out of the rain.

"My name is Raphael," he said slowly, gaging the woman's reaction. She stared at him for several moments, studying him like he was something exotic. He supposed he was.

"Jess, sorry. Um, wait here." He watched her disappear down a hallway, standing awkwardly in the darkened kitchen.

A few seconds later she returned with two towels and tossed one to him.

"You are real, right?"

He smirked, "I am."

"Why were you outside our home?" her hazel eyes sharpened with skepticism.

Raphael paused his drying off unsure of how to answer, "I saw your kids," he stated simply, figuring it was probably best to get straight to the point.

He watched her eyes widen and her body taking on a ridged posture, her mouth gaping as she struggled for words.

"H-How," she finally stammered, her face ablaze with protective furry.

"On the roof," Raph siad, watching as she relaxed slightly, but why she relaxed he didn't understand. From where Raph stood in the situation he was the stranger found standing outside her home in the rain and not only that but he wasn't human, and yet that seemed to bother her the least.

Granted her children weren't exactly normal either, but it still raised several questions in Raph's mind. He wanted to be as straight forward with her as possible. He wanted to know how they had two mutant kids. Where they found them. Why they kept them. But the words stayed lodge in his throat as he looked at the woman in front of him.

It was like Jess aged right before his eyes. Her smile lines deepened, her eyes weighed down, brows drawn together.

Their silence drew on even as she led him out of the kitchen and into the restaurant area. Raph watched as she lifted two chairs off one of the tables and set them up right on the tile floor. Sitting down in one she motioned for Raph to sit in the other.

He lowered his large frame into the chair watching her intently looking for any signs of hostility. Though he didn't find any he did let his guard down remembering vividly what she'd done to that man a few nights ago.

"Where did you find them?" he asked after rolling the question around his tongue for a while.

Her hazel eyes snapped up to his in the dim lighting, brows drawn together tightly like the question was ludicrous. "Find them? Tyler is mine."

Raph thought maybe she didn't understand his question and so clarified, "They're not human. I was mutated. I was just wondering where you found them."

Her frown deepened and she stood. Raphael flinched, reaching for his sia's but stopped when he watched her lift her shirt up just enough for him to see the pinkish surgical scar that that ran across her lower abdomen. "Tyler is mine," she sighed, letting the fabric fall and sitting back down. "I don't know how, but I gave birth to him and Lila gave birth to Chloe. It's been a completely mystery since we had them."

Raphael sat speechless before the woman frowning, "That's not possible," he breathed in disbelief. There was no way these women could've had those children in a natural way. "Are you sure?"

"Please," she said throwing him a smirk, "he looks just like me." She chuckled knowing it wasn't true before turning to Raphael serious again. "But why are you here? I get that you saw them and your interest was peak, but why?"

"They look like us," the words falling out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"Us?"

Raph cursed himself, but went on, "My brothers and I. They look like us." He gaged her reaction and after a moment added, "Different."

At that the younger woman looked away deep in thought, "There's more of you?" her eyes came back to his and he saw a flame of hope burning like a wildfire in her eyes. He watched her reach up and push her wavy brown hair out of her face, wiping her right eye in the process, and tucking the locks behind her ear.

"Yes," Raph knew he was digging himself a hole. But he wanted to see the kids, praying it wasn't true, that the resemblance so uncanny in the photo, wasn't there when he saw them. But his gut twisted against that. A part of him was hoping that he and his brothers weren't as alone as they thought.

Raphael wanted to ask her how she had Tyler, but didn't really know how to ask. How did you get pregnant? Do you remember who did it to you? But no variation felt right or appropriate to ask.

"Tyler, how did you. . .?" he trailed off not sure how to finish, but wanted to get the question out in the stiff air between them.

"How did I have Tyler when I'm human?" she smiled softly at him, picking up on his discomfort at asking the question. He nodded.

Her features withdrew into hard lines and Raph realized it was a tender subject, "Look, if you don't wanna answer—"

"No, it's fine," she cut him off. "It's just I don't have many memories, or any memories at all, from that time." She leaned back in her chair deep in thought as she mused over what she did remember.

"The first thing I remember is waking up on the operating table. It was blurry but I remember a woman telling me congratulations and hearing Tyler crying." She shifted in her chair before continuing, "After I really woke up I found myself in a box with a bed in the corner and two doors."

Raphael gulped, not at all liking where this was going or how her eyes darkened at the memory.

"Only one door ever opened. The other food was slid through. When that one door opened it led to a larger room with objects and occasionally weapons spread out. Lila was there too in the exact same situation with her own cell. Think of a zoo. The animals all have their little places they are kept at night and sleep and those areas can be closed or opened to the actually exhibit where they can interact with other animals." Her face turned to look Raph, "That what it was like. We were treated like animals."

A chill ran down the red banded turtle's spine at the thought of living like that.

"Lila and I, though at the time we didn't really understand what Tyler and Chloe were, we knew we need them with us," she glanced at Raph seeing his confusion elaborated, "When I say that we had no memory I really mean we didn't know anything. I don't even know if Jess is my really name it just _felt_ familiar. And anything to do with life and with the world around us was completely new to us.

"Sure, we knew how to walk and talk, but that was really about it. Everything else we had to learn. I don't know exactly how long we were in there since we had no sense of time. We never had any human interaction except through directions through a speaker. We only ever got to see Tyler and Chole through a glass window if we met their standards during training and then it was only for a few minutes at most." Jess shut her eyes like she was trying to will the memories away and Raph felt bad for asking, but he hadn't expected such a detailed reply or one of horrifying nature.

"Eventually, we lost it. I broke through the glass and Lila ran like I've never seen her run before. By some miracle we made it out and we've been running and hiding ever since. So, when I saw you outside for a second I thought they'd found us," she then lifted her eyes to meet his tears shimmering at the edges.

* * *

 **Raphael** couldn't help but think over Jess's story, struggling to make sense of it. He'd left shortly after she told him about Tyler and Chloe and though it did answer a few questions it only made more come up.

Unlocking the entrance to his home, Raph walked in to see Mikey playing the new video game April had gotten him, but other than that it was quiet. As he passed the dojo he smelled incense burning and knew Leo was inside, but he continued on to Donnie's lab in search of his genius brother.

Sure enough he was tinkering on a new object still in the early stage of becoming useful.

"Raph?" Donnie asked, looking up from his work surprised to see his older brother.

Raph took a seat across from Donnie at his work bench, "I talked to Jess."

Donnie's eyes bugged, "You what?!" he stood, unable to believe her brother would simply reveal himself to a human.

"I talked to Jess and she answered some of my questions," he stated again, really wishing his brother wouldn't raise his voice. He didn't feel like another lecture from Leo. "I just. . .had to know Donnie."

Donatello relaxed slightly, still not liking that Raph had trusted the mysterious woman so easily with their secret. "So, what did you find out?"

"Jess and Lila really had them. Like, actually had them. She showed me the scar."

"Scar?"

"Yeah, it was about here," Raph motioned, drawing a line across his lower abdomen.

Donnie frowned, "So they had the c-section?" he muttered mostly to himself.

"She told me some shit, Donnie, it's insane what they went through." He then relayed the information to Donnie, hoping this brother could make better sense of the information than he had.

Donatello's throat felt dry just trying to imagine living like that. He thought they'd had it bad at times, but at least they hadn't been treated like wild animals in captivity. He groaned at the new information because it only raised new questions and still left many unanswered.

"That still doesn't explain how strong she is," Donnie finally said after several silent minutes thinking.

"Yeah, I didn't get that out of her. Didn't want to." Raph crossed his arms over his chest remember the fear that had caused Jess to draw into herself and the way that she had looked at him after with the threat still ringing in her ears: _"I've killed people before to keep them safe. Don't think I'll hesitate."_

And Raph believed, though still thinking it would for her to take him on given her size, but the fire in her eyes made him really not want to find out.

"You know you went against Leo's orders and you didn't even find out that much," Donnie stated calmly wondering if his older brother really thought it was worth exposing himself and their family.

Raphael met his brother eyes in all seriousness, "You saw that photo, Donnie, I had to know."

* * *

 **Donatello** only sighed at his brother words, thinking back over the picture their baby brother had taken. Just the mere thought of others like them was enough to make him want to do what Raph had done, but logically he knew that wasn't the best solution to finding an answer. But he wasn't surprised to find out Raph had done just that, yet he was still a little miffed that Raphael had given into the temptation so easily despite knowing the dangers that plagued their family.

Watching his brother leave, he couldn't help but wonder if Raph had done it purposely. He'd made it sound like an accident that the woman had seen him. The lightning had flashed and he wasn't able to hide so instead he stayed and talked to her.

When Raph had talked about how Jess wasn't scared of him, but relieved, he couldn't imagine a reaction like that, but knowing what her child looked like it was more or less expected.

From what Raph had told them, they'd lived ten years with no answers as to why Tyler and Chloe looked the way they did. But now they suddenly had answers and maybe that's why Jess had told Raph her story, or part of it at least.

Obviously, a huge piece of the puzzle was missing, much to his discomfort, but he figured the rest would come with time. He had no doubt that Raph would go back or the women would come to them. One was bound to happen sooner rather than later.

Information on their end was severely lacking, but the same went for the two women. No matter what happened, Donatello knew curiosity would bring their two worlds together, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer to their main question: Why did the two kids look like them?

Donnie had a seeking suspicion that made bile rise in his mouth and his stomach turn at the thought, but as he looked over ever possible solution, it was the only on that made sense and it had to be the sickest of all.

Standing to get more coffee, he prayed he was wrong.

* * *

 **Jess** forced her eyes open early the next morning. Reaching over she smacked Lila, jarring the blue haired woman awake. "Get up, we have work," Jess grumbled as she snuggled into the warm comforter.

"What time did you get to bed?" Lila asked as she stood from the bed and stretched, yawing in the process.

"I don't know. Late." Jess pulled back the blanket begrudgingly and lazily walked to the bathroom to start a hot bath hoping that would wake her up.

"What was his name?"

Jess stopped her movement, the water only half way up, and after a moment she finished her task. Jess then looked over that the blue haired woman, knowing she shouldn't've been surprised that Lila knew.

Still she grumbled at getting caught, "His name his Raphael."

Lila's honey green eyes found hers, "What did you tell him?"

Jess stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, not really knowing what had come over her last night, "More than I should have, but not much." Jess thought over that moment. She knew she'd been repressing the memories for quite some time and when she let them come back Jess hadn't been able to stop to the flow.

She didn't trust Raphael even though she wanted to and April and Casey now raised red flags in her mind. The thing she hated most was that they'd have to keep Chloe and Tyler inside with the roof now off limits. The thought made her sick because of how similar it was to how she and Lila had lived in that hell. Even if it was to keep them safe it didn't feel right to lock them away.

Lila set a hand on her sister's shoulder stilling its shaking, but resisted the urge to wipe away the tears on Jess's cheeks, "You take on too much of this burden," she said quietly, pulling the smaller woman into her arms. "Just because you are strong, doesn't mean you can carry this alone."

"Then what are you supposed to do, Lila? Keep running and hiding?"

* * *

 **Lila** flinched at the bitter hatred thickly lacing Jess's voice, but knew it wasn't directed at her but rather their situations and the nightmares that plagued their existence.

Lila left Jess to take a shower and headed downstairs to open the shop, Tyler and Chloe helping her left the chairs off the tables and set them on the floor and when they asked why two were already down she told the children it they'd forgot to put them up.

Her mind drifted back to last night when Jess hadn't returned from taking the trash out and went to search for her. She'd come in on the latter end of their conversation, but was more focused on—who she now knew as Raphael—the giant turtle sitting in their restaurant.

Lila had crouched on the stairs listening intently to their voices, but by the time she'd gotten there they were saying their goodbyes much to her disappointment. The blue haired woman trusted her sister and knew she wasn't doing anything that could put Tyler or Chloe in danger, but still she wondered how Jess had come across the stranger and had decided to ask in the morning.

Lila frowned knowing that the man had brought back memories they were both trying to forget and move past, but she had a feeling they weren't going to be able to hide from the onslaught of those traumatic times anymore. They couldn't pretend they were just a bad dream and that Tyler and Chloe simply had a condition. It couldn't be that simple anymore.

"Mom?"

Lila looked over to her daughter having been pulled from her thoughts by the small voice, "What is it, honey?"

"Are you ok? You haven't put the chair down."

Realizing she indeed hadn't, she set the chair down on the tile and pushed it into the table. "I'm fine, honey, just tired is all. Why don't you and Tyler go play in your room?"

They ran off just as Jess reached the landing and walked over to her.

"I just remembered we need to drop off the payment to Rynaldo," Jess groaned, still using a towel to dry her hair as she walked over to the register and unlocked it. Reaching in, she pulled out a simple envelope and set in on the counter before turning to get her coat.

Lila picked the little packet up causing Jess to stop in confusion, "Let me take it. You'll catch your death with your hair like that." She was surprised that Jess didn't argue since she always took the money to their estranged friend, but Lila guessed her sister was more mentally strained that she originally thought which only worried her more.

Pulling on her coat, gloves, and hat she prepared to face the weather, watching intently as Jess flipped the closed sign over to open and waved goodbye to her.

Lila stepped out into the bitter wind, a cold front having moved in from the rain last night leaving the streets still soggy with water. But for a little while the smell of freshly fallen rain and turning of leaves hung in the air, she couldn't help but smile.

* * *

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	3. Chapter 3

**Lila** stood at the threshold of a run down abandoned building deep in the heart of Queens. She wrapped her coat tighter around her against the chill of the wind and knocked on the rusted door. Usually, Jess was the one who came here and dealt with Rynaldo and his favors, so Lila was surprised with Jess had given in with no fight. Whatever had occurred between her sister and the stranger must've taken a mental toll causing Jess to have a lot on her mind.

As the door opened, Lila shook the thoughts from her mind intending to go back to them later, and walked into the shady shop. The large man who opened the door stepped back into shadowed corner and Lila noticed two other men around the room.

Rynaldo sat in front of a computer, the screen casting a blue haze over his rugged features in the dim lighting of the building. A cigarette hug lazily from his lips a thin pillar of smoke lifting upward, looking like it could fall at any moment, below a well-trimmed mustache and long hooked nose.

Lila reached into her coat and pulled out the package of money and set it on Rynaldo's desk covered in papers and strange little animal figures along with a hoard of wires coming from the multiple monitors. Rynaldo glanced up as the packet fell on his desk, not caring to check the amount knowing full well it was correct, he placed it safely in his desk draw to be dealt with later and pulled out a folder tossing it to the blue haired woman before him.

"Where's sweet Jess?" he asked, leaning back in his chair. Though Lila had come before, it was a rare occurrence.

"The kids—" she started then stopped herself and sighed. Rynaldo was their closet friend. He knew all their secrets and their past. He'd find out about Raphael—who ever her was—eventually and could very well already know. "I don't know the full story, but last night Jess met this. . .stranger," she paused not sure how to continue.

"Stranger?" Rynaldo asked, his dark blue eyes peeking with interest.

"Yes, he's not human, I'm not sure what they talked about—I've had yet to ask—but she's exhausted." Lila finished and looked up at her friend seeing him hum in understanding.

He sat up and rolled himself closer to her desk, "Jess does tend to think her physical strength translates to other aspects of herself." He picked up the folder, looking at it intently before meeting Lila's green eyes, looking like moss in the low light. "Will she be able to handle this?" he asked, turning the folder in his hand so that Lila could take it from him.

She did, opening it and flipping through the pages before answering, "Of course she can." Lila stood and said good bye to her friend about to walk out when he stopped her.

His hand caught her upper arm, looking at her intently, the wrinkles in his face becoming more pronounced, "Is there anything you're not telling me about his stranger?"

Lila hesitated for a moment mostly because she was afraid to say it out loud fearing that is she did it wouldn't be true or that it would be. She wasn't which was worse. "He looked like Tyler and Chloe, but then again he didn't. I don't know, Rynaldo. It was like his condition was more sever."

The older man let her arm go with a slow nod.

* * *

 **Rynaldo** watched Lila disappear through the door and closed it. He turned and strode over to his desk, his finger poised over the key board, but found he couldn't pull his thoughts from the two women.

He met them five years ago. They saved his life.

At the time he couldn't believe it; that a small woman like Jess had been able to pull him from the river with cinderblocks tied to his feet. He shivered at the memory.

From the ground where Jess had dragged him, he looked up into her hazel eyes knowing he owed her his life. A part of him though, wanted to thank her and run, perfectly fine with leaving the two women a distant memory, then then he'd seen the children cowering behind them.

With his interest peeked, he stayed and talked to them.

They were homeless, their clothes stained and dirty, the children wearing oversized coats. Lila was even thinner that she was now, her bones horribly prominent under her mahogany skin, but what had surprised him most was how clueless they were.

At one point, he'd had a daughter and a beautiful wife, but they were killed that same night right before him their heart shoved into his hands as they threw him into the Hudson.

With nowhere to go, he stayed with them. The best decision he'd ever made in his worthless life.

Despite having nearly everyone he knew wanted to kill him or thinking he was dead. He knew the right bribe would mend all bad wounds. He'd looked over at Jess and asked her she'd lifted him out of the water.

She'd replied by picking up a nearby dumpster with easy. A moment later a plan formed in his head. Even though Jess's eyes flared with danger, he couldn't help but capitalize on the opportunity. He'd told her his plan and she'd agreed without hesitation.

She's completed the job flawlessly, which got him the money to buy them an apartment and start up his own gang with Jess doing the dirty work.

He'd later found out that Jess simply didn't know what she was doing was wrong. Hers and Lila's memory loss was extensive. After a couple years he bought them their little shop over in Manhattan. The money they brought was to pay them back along with the jobs that Jess did for him.

More and more often the jobs were few and far between, mostly because the men who worked for him knew that if they saw Jess, they wouldn't be alive for much longer.

Sighing, Rynaldo stood and walked over to a nearby table and poured him a glass of whisky.

* * *

 **Jess** pulled on soft leather gloves and strapped them on tight. Making sure her hair was tied tightly she picked up two pistols and put them in the holsters on her hips.

The address Rynaldo had given Lila that morning wasn't too far away, and it confirmed Jess's suspicions as to why the crime rate had spiked in their neighborhood. Another gang was trying to take root. Flipping through the folder a few more times before setting it down on the desk littered with papers.

"Be careful tonight."

"Aren't I always?" Jess muttered still facing the desk.

Lila smiled, "I remember specifically a night when you came home with a bullet hole in your chest."

"And I said it wouldn't happen again, didn't I?" Jess finally turned to her sister standing in the door way before picking up her backpack sitting by the bed.

Jess smiled reassuringly to Lila before pulling up the mask that covered the lower part of her face, "It's an easy job. I'll be back soon."

Jess walked to the address moving through alleyways going over her plan. The building was smaller than she anticipated, run down, and quiet more than anything. Then again if you're running a drug operation you don't want a lot of noise to draw attention.

Eventually, she drew the attention of a lone man sitting in front of a TV with at least a dozen beer bottles, "Hey, who're you?" the man slurred.

"I'm looking for Miguel," Jess said scanning the face of the man determining that he wasn't her target.

"He's in the back," the man replied, returning his full attention to the fight. Jess guessed that the guy was too drunk to care who she was. Never noticing her raise her gun. He simply slumped forward the TV casting a dull glow over his now dead form.

She opened the door to the room the man had pointed to, finding Miguel along with two other men in some sort of meeting.

Miguel's eye's widened whispering, "Diablo," as Jess approached him, knowing full well who she was. "I told Rynaldo I would have the money next week!"

Jess tilted her head, sizing the man before her up, "You're three weeks behind. Ray's not impressed." In one swift motion, she pulled her right pistol from hip and aimed it the older man. Noticing the two other men reaching for their own weapon's. Firing a warning shot into Miguel's arm the two stopped all movement as their leader let out a string of curses in Spanish.

"Rynaldo's. . .a coward," the man seethed through pain, slowly reaching for the pistol under his desk, pray that the devil woman wouldn't notice.

"Rynaldo doesn't worry himself with his low life errand boy's who don't live up to their promises."

"So, he sends his bitch of a guard dog, right?" Miguel watched as Jess smirked, though hidden behind her mask, it was evident in her eyes.

Jess pulled the trigger, the bang resonating around the room and for a moment Miguel hung there as a red dot formed on his forehead behind him the wall streaked with brain matter and pieces of skull. Seeing her job finished, Jess holstered the weapon grabbed the open case on the desk that had a couple of stacks of money in it as well as one on the table and turned to leave.

One of the men attacked, grabbing her arm and pulling Jess back. She got her foot and flipped the man over her and landed the swift kick to the other leaving both groaning on the floor. Two more bullets finished the job off. Never and witnesses. Brushing off her clothes she left.

Stepping outside she pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed Rynaldo's number.

He picked up after the third ring, "Hello darling, how'd it go?"

"Easy," she replied, turning down a street and taking the stairs down to the subway.

"Wonderful, did you get the money?"

"Yep," Jess gripped the small case in her hand tighter. "But its light."

"I knew it would be. How are the children?"

Jess stepped into the subway car, pulling down the handkerchief off her nose and pushed the hood of her jacket off, "They're good, but I think Chloe is catching a cold. I'll have to go buy her some medicine tomorrow."

"Hmm, and the stranger you met list night?"

Jess's blood ran cold before she left out a stifled groan, "Lila."

"She seemed concerned," Rynaldo defended trying to get it through to his friend that this wasn't something she should deal with on her own.

Jess sighed, "To be honest I don't know what to think of it, Ray. He. . . I'm just so confused and it's bring back memories that I've been trying to forget," she stopped before her voice could crack. Rynaldo was silent on the other side for longer than Jess liked, "Ray, don't. I can handle it."

The older man could only chuckle, "Jess, you can't handle this, whether you like it or not, Lila is involved in this, too. I'll have my men keep an eye out." He paused for a moment, not sure if he should tell her, "There have been reports of strange creatures in New York before, but I never thought that were true." He sighed knowing he should have looked into it sooner.

"You knew?" Jess gasped and Rynaldo scrambled to cover his ass.

"Yes—sorta—look nobody thought these sightings were true, if you could even call them sightings! Most of the time any one who managed to get a picture only had blurs of large figures. And if anyone had an encounter with the rumors they had too bad of a concussion to remember anything and if they did they were called crazy because was they said they saw was impossible. . ." his sentence trailed off as his stomach dropped. Cursing himself for not making the connection. "I'm sorry, I should've looked into it."

Jess pinched the bridge of her nose, "Yeah, you should've, Ray. I gotta go."

"Jess wai—"

She hung up before he could say anything else. Resting against the seat Jess thought about Raphael and how he said there was more of them.

* * *

 **Mikey** was flipping aimlessly through the channels when a news report popped up detailing a murder near where Casey and April lived.

" _Three men were found dead early this morning by an anonymous 911 call. It appears to be a robbery—"_

Mikey called Leo and his brother with a groan. They'd been trying to catch this person for months with no luck. They always seemed to be one step ahead.

"You've got to be kidding me," Leo grumbled, leaning forward on the couch as footage rolled of the crime scene the bodies pixilated.

Raph could only grumble. They could never get a leg up on the person. They attacked randomly, left nothing behind, and not to mention no one ever lived to describe what they looked like.

He felt his phone buzz, and sure enough it was a text from Jess wondering if they would talk some more, so while his brothers debated a strategy on how to stop the rouge vigilante, he quietly exited the lair and made his way to Jess's apartment.


End file.
